Christmas party at Mikage Shrine
by Ichigo to Hana
Summary: Tomoe is kind of upset to see Nanami invite her friends over to decorate the shrine. He isn't too enthusiastic about the invitation of Nanami's cousin and her boyfriend for Christmas either. But it can't be helped, right. Right?
1. Chapter 1

**20**

 _Hey there. We've finally caught up to date… somehow. Ichigo still has to solve her writer's block, but I´ll help her, so it should be overcome quickly. Anyway, I don't own Kamisama Kiss and would like to remind you to send the answer to the riddle below as a PM so no one can cheat. Have fun ^^_

 **Decoration and guests**

"Why the hell did you invite them over?", Tomoe wanted to know. In his eyes a tengu and snake had nothing to do with decorating the shrine he was familiar of. Nevertheless the current female human land god had invited the two demons over to help. For Tomoe two things were absolutely sure: Mizuki was always doing something wrong and prefer to take care of his sacred sake. Kurama on the other hand would surely prefer to spend the day with his countless fans.

"Why did you invite them to help?", Tomoe rephrased his question. His god whirled around, long brown hair nearly whipping him in the face. Nanami gave the fox demon a cheerful smile: "But Tomoe, we need all the help we can get. The guests are coming in a few days. We need to be prepared. Mizuki and Kurama will be of great assistance."

"Thank you Nanami-chan", a white haired boy smiled broadly at her. "Mizuki", the teenage girl squealed in delight. "You've finally made it back from your shrine!"

"Don't forget me", another male voice said, as a dark angel landed on the ground with flapping black wings. "Kurama", Nanami exclaimed before hugging him as well. "Oh great, at least now we know, who is going to put all the lanterns up into the trees.", Tomoe huffed, while his white fox ears twitched in irritation. _It's not that I don't like them, they are my friends of some sort, but why do they always have to cling to Nanami?_ The red haired teen turned its intense gaze towards the kitsune. "Now, now, now. Don't be so rude, Tomoe.", Kurama said. He showed his grey claws in a playful threat, as the demons all were somehow befriended with each other. More or less…

Nanami skipped about, already trying to explain Mizuki her plans for the shrine. "The trees up to the shrine will be covered in colourful lampions and lanterns, some lights to highlight the roof of the house. We need a stage, where we give presents to the children with someone playing Santa Claus and all. Next to it stands a Christmas tree with shining stars and glittering balls and cute little angels, as well as some fake presents underneath it."

"And we all need to do that today?", Mizuki interrupted her. "Why haven't you started earlier?"

"Because there was school and then the first days of the holidays – let's just say I wasn't in the mood to do anything.", Nanami shrugged her shoulders. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her back. Slowly the girl turned around to stare directly into Tomoe's purple eyes: "Oh really? I haven't noticed at all. I just needed to take care of all your godly duties for you, as a certain familiar", his stare turned to Mizuki, "Was drunk all the time from his own sake and then left for his old shrine." _Oh dear… Tomoe is still upset about it? Why so, it has been some days. Mizuki and me were obediently following our duties since then…_ , Nanami thought. _A topic change would be for the best. Otherwise he's bound to get even more upset without any reason._

"How about we get down to business? We need to decorate the whole shrine!" The female land god looked around her friends, who were slightly staring due to her sudden and too cheerful suggestion. Only Tomoe caught up with her thoughts, giving her a look. "Sure. Why don't you show them the decoration, while I prepare the lanterns and lampions?" Nanami nodded her head, although she didn't know, what the look on her first familiar's face meant. _He's up to something. But to what?_ She shrugged it off as something she would take care of later on. "Okay you guys follow me. We have everything in the shed. "You lead the way", Kurama simply said.

* * *

"This is what you give me to work with?", the red haired teen held an old and tarnished Christmas tree ball next to his face. "Well, I've seen worse", Mizuki pulled cobwebs from the star that was supposed to be the top of the Christmas tree. He picked the webs off it, but threw he star to the floor screaming as the spider, who was master of the cobweb came from within the star to see, what was happening to her wonderful trap. The white snake screeched in horror, only for Kurama to shoo the spider away. "You're such a girl at times."

"And you're a crow demon. Shouldn't you love to eat spiders?"

"No. I am a fallen angel. They do not eat spiders."

"A fallen angel. As if"

"No arguing boys. We need to turn this all into a silk purse.", Nanami said from the other end of the shed. "Now here we have the angels and stars I wanted to put onto the tree." Kurama and Mizuki came over to her with boxes in their arms. "And now?" Nanami sighed: "Isn't that obvious? We'll have them washed and dried, primped and polished till they glow with pride.", she noticed the uneasiness in her friend's faces, "Trust my recipe."

"Okay then, lead the way land god.", Kurama motioned for Nanami to go first. The girl nodded in acknowledgement, leading the way towards the water Tomoe had prepared for them. The fox himself was already working on putting the lanterns up into the trees. _He sure is swift… Maybe even as swift as a coursing river._ , Nanami placed her boxes down next to one bowl. "Okay now, we need to clean them with a tiny bit of water to not ruin the material.", Nanami looked up to see Kurama glaring up at Tomoe. "Do you have to be somewhere?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I only thought I would be the one to put the things into the trees."

"Then go ask Tomoe, if he wants to change with you.", Mizuki grinned. "I'll stay with Nanami for sure." Kurama only lifted one brow at the snake demon, but turned away to talk to the kitsune.

* * *

Tomoe's ears twitched long before Kurama landed beside him on the branch. "What do you want?", the fox asked. "Who spit in your bean curd?", the tengu wanted to know. Tomoe only gave him a sideways glance. "What do you want?", he asked again. "Simple", Kurama shrugged. "I wanted to ask, if we could change tasks. You are more experienced with cleaning and I am much faster with the things up in the trees. You know, I have wings."

"Then get happy with it", Tomoe hopped down to the ground and walked away. _I don't care, which job I have to do. As long as we get it done quickly. Just thinking about these guests Nanami invited makes my head hurt. How could she invite him – a copy of me? And his mate… She is so much like Nanami herself, only she is a Miko and not a land god._

"Tomoe" Someone waved a hand in front of the fox's eyes. He blinked and found himself face to face with Nanami, Mizuki sitting a little bit farther away, grinning at him. "Is something the matter?", Nanami wanted to know. Worry shone in her brown eyes. "You are so distant ever since I told you about my cousin visiting us."

"And now put two and two together", Mizuki mumbled. But Nanami either didn't hear him or choose to ignore him. "Come on Tomoe, it'll be so much fun! They were so nice last time we visited them." _Of course it was… The boyfriend of your cousin would glare at me the whole time. The more I talked to him the more parallels I found between us and this really annoys me. He would brag on about how special he was – I don't like such people. And as I told him, he started cursing at me – which I hate even more._

Without noticing, Tomoe had cleaned all the articles in the boxes around him and Nanami and Mizuki already moved them to decorate the Christmas tree. Mizuki using his snake to put the star on top of the tree, and secure the upper balls, smaller stars and angels among the thinner branches. On the other side Nanami crouched down, putting the bigger Christmas tree balls on the lowest branches along with some other glimmering things. She even pushed the fake present boxes beneath it. "Tomoe look! Isn't it pretty?", she turned around smiling. The fox looked up from the last star he was currently cleaning. Seeing the Christmas tree glowing in the shine from the setting sun and the lights from within the shrine, he merely nodded in agreement. "The candles are missing.", Kurama noticed, flying above the tree. "I'll get them. Just wait a minute."

"Already done with the way up to the shrine?", Mizuki tilted his head. "I thought it would take longer with all those trees and bushes and-"

"I am done with it.", Kurama said with finality in his voice. "Thank you", Nanami beamed up at him. "You were a big help. Thank you very much." _Although I am still surprised he was so quick with it… Nah, there's nothing to worry about. Kurama has wings to fly from tree to tree. It's only logical he is faster that way._

"What else is missing?", Tomoe asked his lady. "Just the lights for the tree?"

"Yes", Nanami nodded her head. "It's the last thing missing." She looked up to admire her beautiful Christmas tree, then turned to see the trees leading up to the shrine being enlightened by lanterns and lampions in all kinds of colours. "Then I'll play a song for you!" Mizuki pulled his flute from somewhere under his clothes. "Oh please don't", Tomoe muttered. However Mizuki was already 'playing'. "Pffffffffffffffffffffff"

"I think, I heard an actual note in between.", Kurama joked, as he came back with the electrical candles. "Really?", Mizuki asked, as he had overheard the sarcastic undertone. "Nope", Kurama replied, setting the first candle on one of the branches. Mizuki pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. _Oh dear, he's such a child at times…_ , Tomoe rolled his eyes. _But I guess that's what Nanami likes about him. They both are such kids._

"Tomoe", Nanami whispered close to the fox. "Are you still mad at me for being lazy during the past days and inviting my cousin over without asking you first?"

"No, not really", the familiar responded calmly. "After all there is nothing I could do about it. They're your family and everyone wants to spend Christmas with their relatives. I'm just glad you only invited your cousin and her boyfriend." Nanami looked at the side of his face: "The rest of my family wouldn't be happy to find out I am a land god and live with two male demons. Though I guess the male part would be more shocking to them than the whole demon thing. After all my cousin is with a half demon."

"Hm", Tomoe nodded his head. "Now Kurama is finished, let's try to switch on the candles." The fox sprang to his feet, dragging Nanami up with him and turned on the candles. The whole Christmas tree shimmered and gleamed against the falling darkness with a warm yellow light. The stars glimmered golden and silver, the angels danced with themselves and the balls reflected red spot onto the ground. It was the most beautiful Christmas tree Nanami had ever seen and only because she had decorated it with her friends. She began humming the joyful melody of her cousin's favourite Christmas song, while admiring their work.

* * *

 **Riddle** : Who do you think could be Nanami's cousin?

Please solve the riddle via a PM so no one can cheat.

 _Also check out the other short stories we have uploaded so far. In order:_

 _1 The Lord of the kitchen_

 _2 The tale of the handsome commander_

 _3 Miroku's wish list_

 _4 Dream beaches_

 _5 How to not freeze to death_

 _6 Surprise surprise_

 _7 I'm going into town, Tomoe_

 _8 No one ever calls me to simply drink coffee_

 _9 Tigers and Badminton_

 _10 Geography with Myoga_

 _11 Preparations_

 _12 The other way to fight_

 _13 Meeting Tomoe_

 _14 That's not an emergency, Foaly_

 _15 Hn_

 _16 For my dearest friend_

 _17 Magical Folders_

 _18 coming soon_

 _19 Things and hot springs_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2 The day of days**

* * *

Finally the day Tomoe had feared and longed for at the same time awoke with a beautiful red sunrise. The snow-covered roofs reflected the lights, the wind played with the wind chimes. A lone figure sat atop one tree near the still dark Mikage shrine. He wore traditional Japanese clothing, his white hair in stark contrast to the blue kimono. Fox ears and a tail twitched, as the kitsune took in the approaching new day.

 _Christmas,_ he pulled his mouth into a thin line. _Hallelujah. Nanami's cousin and her annoying boyfriend will be coming over. The only good thing is, that neither Kurama nor Mizuki will be there to mess this up even more. I'm glad Nanami told him to visit his old shrine again to make sure everything is safe, even though Mizuki is a familiar of this shrine. Kurama should be throwing a party for his fans or stay with the other crow demons on Kurama Mountain. But this mutt…_

"Tomoe!", someone yelled for the fox, taking him by surprise. Only barely keeping his balance on the branch, Tomoe turned around to glare at Mizuki. The other male sat on his white snake, ready to leave the shrine. "I saw you up here and felt like wishing you a happy merry Christmas!", the teen informed his friend. "So?", Tomoe lifted one brow at him. "Merry Christmas Tomoe!", Mizuki beamed at him, swiftly flying away while waving his goodbye.

One less to keep an eye on, only Nanami, Onikiri and Kotetsu are left. Let's hope the two shrine spirits don't wake before I am done with the cooking for today's big family reunion.

As if on a secret cue the two of them appeared in front of Tomoe seemingly out of thin air. The familiar winced in surprise, though this time able to easily balance on the branch. "Is today traditional 'Let's shock Tomoe'-day?", her growled. "I am sorry!", Onikiri hastily apologized. "We only wanted to make sure you didn't need any help from us."

"No"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

The two spirits looked at each other before they deliberately flew closer to the kitsune. "We are going to rum some errands in the demon world and then go visit some friends, okay?" Tomoe merely shrugged his shoulders. If they went shopping, he hadn't had to go, so it was one less chore to worry about. The kitsune nodded at them in acknowledgment: "I thank you for the offer. The list is-" Kotetsu waved with it in front of his eyes. "We already got it. The offer was more a formality. We would have gone either way." Tomoe nodded again, giving them the sign to leave, while somehow being able to express his thankfulness at the same time. Eventually the shrine spirits disappeared and Tomoe was left alone once again. He stood up, balancing on the branch while watching the sun stretching out over the roof tops. But of course his moment of peace didn`t last long for long on this already kind of eventful morning.

"Tomoe!"

This time the kitsune wasn't able to keep his balance, as he had just stood without anything to grab onto. With a very graceless yelp and thud Tomoe landed on his behind at the bottom of the tree. Luckily it was in a mountain of snow he had built there before sunrise, so his fall was stopped lighter than it would have been with solid ground beneath. Nanami gasped as she saw him fall. However, as the white fox reappeared from the snow, his whole face red either from the cold or from embarrassment and snow clinging to him, the teenage girl couldn't contain her laughter any longer.

"I am sorry Tomoe!", she told him between fits of giggles. "I didn't mean to surprise you." Said man only glared daggers at the brown haired human in front of him. _She may be my land god, but that doesn't mean she can laugh at me like this. It's too humiliating!_

Even before Nanami realised what was going on, she felt something cold hit her face. The girl opened her eyes. Tomoe had thrown a snowball at her – with success, as she immediately shut up. Well, momentarily that is. "Oh? So this is what you're up to?", Nanami crouched down and formed a snowball herself. "That's fine with me." The girl threw her ball at the fox demon, who dodged it with ease due to his superhuman speed. _Can't hit me again. I am a demon after all.,_ Tomoe gave his god an arrogant smirk. This in turn encouraged Nanami to throw more snowballs at him until the two of them were into a full-blown snowball fight.

* * *

"Take this!", Nanami flung another snowball aimed at Tomoe's face – or where his face had been just seconds before. But the kitsune had ducked under the ball; diving behind the wall of snow he had built during some of the breaks they both took to gather more snowballs. However this time Nanami's snow hit home even though her familiar had moved out of the way. "Ouch", another male voice said. A female giggle followed: "You got there something, honey."

Nanami spun around at the voice, the snowball she had already lifted to throw at Tomoe falling from her hand. "You're here!", she exclaimed excitedly, before running up to the other woman and hugging her close to herself. Said woman had long black hair with shimmering bluish tints. Her brown eyes sparkled with the same joy Tomoe often saw in Nanami's, though this woman was nowhere near as innocent as his land god. The Miko had seen things no human her age should have seen, yet alone a girl. The death of several people during her fight with the spider demon Naraku in the past, the killing of her incarnation and her friends tears for her. _And yet she is smiling with such joy… I'll never get, why she wastes her time with that half-breed. He is loud and annoying and utterly childish._

With as much dignity as the kitsune could muster after being caught in doing something as undignified as a snowball fight, he tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe and stood to greet their guests properly. "Hello Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-chan" Although 'chan' could be used for close friends, Tomoe's tone suggested, he rather thought of the use for little children.

In return the man, whose face was still slightly covered in snow, folded back his white puppy ears until they disappeared into his silver mane. Golden clashed with purple, as the two male demons seemed to fight for dominance through staring.

"Men", the dark haired woman, Kagome, huffed while rolling her eyes. "So immature."

"Leave them be. I am sure, they'll come in as soon as dinner is served.", Nanami took her cousin's arm and guided her into the house. Both males turned their ears to hear the cousins leave them alone all the while not breaking eye contact for one second.

"I see you still like playing in the snow.", Inuyasha gave a cocky smirk and shook his head. "Such a child." Tomoe tilted his chin upwards in turn, looking down on the other male with arrogance: "And I see you still follow her around like a lost puppy." The half demon growled in the back of his throat. One corner of Tomoe's mouth quirked slightly upwards. _It too easy to irritate the mutt. Maybe this day will still turn out to be fun?_ As he turned away, he only said: "I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend the puppy." The growling gained in volume, as the kitsune walked back towards the house. Tomoe knew fully well he was not going to get away with it this easily. _Three… Two… One…_

"Oi, duster!", Inuyasha called after him. "Want to say that to my face again?" Tomoe looked back over his shoulder, whisking his tail over the ground with a devilish gleam in his fox eyes. Inuyasha stayed silent. "Now, now… Have you hurt your ears, _puppy_?"

"That's it", Inuyasha pulled forth his fang shaped sword. "You're practically begging for it traitorous fox."

The gleam in Tomoe's eyes only intensified: _He is so easy to manipulate. Maybe this visit will be fun after all. I have missed a good fight. It's been far too calm around the shrine as of late._ Small blue sparks of kitsunebi sprang back and forth between his fingers. "What me, a traitor? Are we not friends? What's up with that?", Tomoe turned to give the hanyo his innocent face. Inuyasha bared his fangs at the fox demon. "Now, you'll see, what I do with schemers like you!"

* * *

Nanami and Kagome had taken a seat in the living area, enjoying each other´s company and catching up to what the other one had missed in the past year. Kagome told her cousin about the fight in the past against the evil half demon Naraku, who wanted to use the sacred jewel for world dominance and how she and her friends eventually defeated him. In turn Nanami remembered the huge spider demon attacking her and her defeating it with her Kagura dance. Which in turn reminded Kagome of one of the minions of Naraku, who had tried to walk away from him and had paid with her life for it. The demoness had been called Kagura. She had often introduced herself as a wind sorceress due to her abilities in manipulating the winds. Her only problem had been that Naraku had held her heart. Literally.

Nanami shivered at the thought of a beating heart outside its body. It seemed too cruel to be true. The two of them had just started to discuss, whether or not there was a connection between both of their experiences, as there was yelling and the sound of crumbling wood outside the door.

The cousins sighed in unison. _Not again_ , Nanami thought. _I had hoped, they wouldn't pick a fight this year after everything that happened the last time._

"Do you remember last year, as we left the two of them together so they could get to know each other and they ended up beating the hell out of the shrine?", Kagome locked eyes with Nanami. "I think we should stop thinking this two will stop with their territorial nonsense anytime soon."

"Come on let's go. Before they 'accidentally' tear down the house.", Nanami sighed heavily. They stood and walked to the door connecting the living room to the court where the Christmas tree from yesterday's Christmas party for the kids still stood.

Or had as they now discovered. Currently one very calm kitsune jumped over the toppled over tree while one hanyo severed branches from the trunk with the vicious slashing of his sword. Neither of the women could believe what they saw. _This is even worse, than last year. Last year they at least left the decoration in peace and only caused damage on the shed… But this-_

Nanami's thoughts were cut off, as Kagome's voice rang over the noise of the battling demons. "Inuyasha!", she yelled. Not waiting for her boyfriend to react she stomped into the court, fists balled at her sides, her aura already spiking all around her. "Mind to tell me, what's going on here?"

However the males were too focused on their battling to hear her words. "Cheater!", Inuyasha roared, as he jumped after Tomoe, who had lunged over the Christmas tree and on around the court, dodging the strikes of the half demon's sword with seemingly ease. "Are you actually trying to hit me or are you just pretending to fight half breed?"

"Why should I answer you? Who is the one of us having a girl's name, me or you?"

"If I remember correctly, your father wasn't exactly creative with his choice of name for you either, 'dog demon'" Another swing of the sword, which this time was met with a blade of blue fire, Tomoe had created out of his foxfire. Kagome and Nanami shared a quick glance, deciding their next step to stop the fight with only one confirming look. "Inuyasha", Kagome called out again, this time capturing the attention of the dog demon. He turned his head and saw the look in her eyes. "Oh no", was all he could manage, before Kagome spoke his most hated word: "Sit!" The beads around his neck glowed, dragging the half demon face first into the ground, immobilizing him for a few moments. Tomoe smirked down at him: "Overpowered by a mortal Miko. What a demon you are"

"Tomoe", Nanami's voice cut through the air like a knife, freezing the kitsune in place. _Oh oh… Maybe I shouldn't have said that last part too loud._

"Do me a favour – and sit.", Nanami said with the authority of a god in her voice. Bound by her kiss, Tomoe had to obey her and fell to the ground much the same way Inuyasha had – face first with no chance of moving the first few seconds. "You were saying?", the half demon wanted to know with his face still in the ground. "Oh, shut the front door", Tomoe grumbled. "As soon as you two are done sulking, you will come inside and behave yourselves. Are we understood?", the cousins wanted to know. Both demons hummed their understanding and listened to the women leaving back into the house.

* * *

After one hour of forcing the guys to clean up the mess they made and the girls preparing the final steps for dinner, the group was finally sitting around the dining table with the plates full of yummy Christmas food. Nanami and Kagome chatted among themselves and had their fun, while the boys simply sat there sulking like children. Inuyasha with a visible pout on his lips, Tomoe with a mask of indifference and irritation placed above his features.

"It really is a pity we don't get to see each other more often.", Kagome said with a sigh. "We always had so much fun together." Nanami giggled: "Just like when we were kids and our parents couldn't quite keep us separate. We were together all the time." They both laughed at whatever memory popped up in their heads. "Do you remember the one time we stole the apples of this grumpy old woman next door?"

"Oh yes. We told her they had fallen to the ground and we didn't notice, it weren't apples from our garden."

"Yeah right. We didn't even have an apple tree, but that she gladly didn't know."

"Or that other time, as we changed the signs on the toilets in school?"

They both burst into a fit of laughter at that one particular memory of every student and teacher entering the wrong toilet and coming out beet red and stuttering as if they had seen a ghost. Nanami brushed her tears of laughter out of her eyes: "After that we at least knew Ms. Hinagari had an affair with Mr. Minamoto." Kagome made a face and faked a gag. "That was definitely too much information, if you ask me."

 _If you ask me, you two are having too much fun tonight with all this fluffy memories around you._ , Tomoe ground his teeth. He didn't like sitting next to the half-breed, although hearing the pranks of his land god was slightly amusing to him. The familiar hadn't known his land god did have this side to her. Even though he couldn't place faces to the names the women said. _Even Inuyasha seems to be in a better mood ever since Kagome-sama gave him some ramen. However it is still impolite of him to refuse home cooked food._

"Sh, I think I heard something outside.", Kagome suddenly said with one finger on her lips. Both demons' ears perked, trying to detect the sound that even a human hearing seemed to recognize as such. _I can't hear anything… What did she hear?_ , Tomoe wondered before glancing at the half demon to see, if he had caught something. However Inyuasha, though catching his look, shook his head. He hadn't heard anything either. Nanami was quiet as well, before pointing in the air: "There it is again. I hear the soft chimes of bells. I think just about now Santa Claus has come to bring us our presents." The cousins shared a glance, before turning towards the men with the same bright smile: "Have you two been good this year?"

The demons looked at them with equally questioning looks, causing the humans to laugh a little. "They can be so cute, if they want to.", Kagome said. "But unfortunately they don't want to most of the time.", Nanami added. "Who are you calling cute?", Inuyasha folded back his ears. "Relax pup, this is going to be over soon enough.", Tomoe patted his shoulder. _This is ridiculous. Do they want us to pretend Santa Clause is coming to town or what? I am no child anymore I know there is no such thing as him. Well, if it makes them happy…_

"Where should we meet up with him?", he played along. Nanami gave him a gentle smile, her eyes sparkling with happiness: "I fear, he has already left again to finish his tour tonight on time. I am sorry. You'll have to wait until next year to meet him."

"What a pity", Inuyasha muttered. "Isn't it", Kagome gave her boyfriend a look, that had Inuyasha instantly faking his disappointment better. "Really wish, I could have finally met him. Just this once." Tomoe lightly shook his head: _She has him wrapped around her pinkie with nothing more than a look. That necklace isn't doing any good to him. Although from what Nanami told me, the use isn't as frequent as at the start of their relationship._

Suddenly someone grabbed Tomoe's clawed hand. He looked up to see Nanami smiling back at him. "Come on Tomoe, don't you want to get your presents?" The image of the presents Tomoe himself had wrapped up for his lady and mistress came back to his mind. Fortunately he had used the same paper as her and so it hadn't made any difference, as he had placed them beneath the tree in their living area. _I am curious, if she'll like what I got for her. After all it was just an assumption that it might look good on her…_ Tomoe' ears twitched at the thought he had had in the shop before getting Nanami's present, just before a slight blush crept onto his cheeks. Yes, he cared for the girl deeply, but maybe not as deeply as the shop attendant thought he did. Or not? The kitsune shook his head to get rid of these thoughts. Silently he followed the land god and their guests into the living area.

"Oh Inuyasha, this is so cute!", Kagome pulled forth a necklace with a single violet pearl of the size of her thump nail in the middle on a sand coloured band. "How did you find this?"

"I didn't find it. Remember, Santa was here.", Inuyasha winked at her. "You'll have to ask him next time you see him for the foxy kit." Kagome gave her boyfriend a slight smack on the upper arm, but smiled broadly. "They're so adorable.", Nanami whispered closely to Tomoe's ear. "Don't you want to see what Santa brought you?", he murmured back. The girl's eyes widened slightly: "But you needn't get something for me and I told Kurama and Mizuki as well."

"But you bought presents for them so we left presents for you.", Tomoe pointed out. "So why wouldn't we get something for you?" Nanami tilted her head to the side in thought. It struck the kitsune like a ton of bricks: _She is so cute and innocent to think we didn't notice what she was trying to do and do nothing about it. Kurama has found a great friend in her, who sees behind the mask of the pop idol. Mizuki on the other hand completely adores her as his land god, older sister and saviour from madness. Nothing would stop either of them to get her a present for Christmas-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Nanami's surprised gasp. "This is so beautiful!" The others in the room turned around to see what the land god had found. The girl held the box with the present Tomoe had bought separately. Carefuly she lifted the blue hairpin out of the box. It had a little violettish butterfly on it and a few fragile looking flowers. These blossoms were connected to two little chains chiming whenever they hit each other. They ended in small water like droplets. Kagome's eyes were as huge as saucers. "My, this is beautiful. You should try it out.", she stroked the new necklace around her neck before walking up behind her cousin. "Here, let me help you." Inuyasha watched calmly, his eyes glittering with joy that Kagome liked his present. The dog demon leaned over to the fox. "It may seem we had the same idea.", he smirked. "A jewel for our jewel." Tomoe didn't respond, but watched mesmerized as Kagome pulled Nanami's long brown hair up and fixed it with the pin. The land god sparkled with happiness, reaching for another package. "Here Tomoe, it's your turn."

Tomoe took the thing from her with careful hands. Just in case there was something breakable in it. One never knew. Inuyasha took the offered present from Kagome, ripping it open the instant he got it. _How very doglike of him._ , Tomoe noted. _They always need to get to their treats as quickly as possible. Unable to wait for even one minute…_

Nanami touched his arm and the familiar started to unwrap his present with mindful motions. What came forth was a book. A book about the exotic kitchen of the world. He lifted his purple eyes to meet Nanami's brown ones. "I thought you forbade me to cook your friends."

"Well, if I check first, if youare in fact trying to cook our friends - and make sure you are not - I think it'll be okay."

A true smile broke forth on Tomoe's handsome features: "Thank you." Nanami blushed cutely, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "Thank you", she finally said, motioning at the hair pin. Inuyasha snorted: "What a lovey-dovey couple we have here. Only I seem to be slightly disappointed…"

"Why?", Kagome gave him a fake innocent look. The other two turned as well to see the reason of his sunken mood. As an answer Inuyasha held up the book he got from Kagome. A book about manners. Nanami burst out laughing at that. "Good move", she told her cousin. "Maybe with the help of that the shrine will survive next year's Christmas." Even Tomoe smirked at the move. A very forward outpointing of what the half demon had to improve. "Oh please don't be mad at me honey", Kagome gave him a peck on the cheek. "It was no bad intention behind it. Besides, have you looked inside?" Grumbling under his breath, Inuyasha opened the book – only for his golden eyes to widen in surprise. "Why?", he asked, as he held up the portrait of a woman in traditional clothing next to a tall man with similar features to Inuyasha. "Because your parents died so long ago and I thought this was a good way to keep them close."

Nanami nearly cried at the hidden message in those words. "This is so romantic", she mumbled. Tomoe handed her a handkerchief he had pulled from one of his pockets to dry her eyes. "It is no reason to cry about such a display of affection.", he told her calmly. "After all, your godly domain is love."

The girl nodded her head, leaned close to her familiar and relaxed for the rest of the unwrapping of the presents. She couldn't resist the urge to change into the outfit Tomoe had bought her, while Kagome and Inuyasha exchanged some more romantic presents such as a bracelet matching Inuyasha's necklace for Kagome or a white plush puppy for Inuyaha. Tomoe had to admit that this evening turned out to be more fun than he thought it to be, since Nanami's cousin was nice company and even her boyfriend wasn't as bad as he had remembered him from the year before. They chatted until way past midnight, played board games and ate Christmas cake and Tomoe found he had a pretty good sense now of what it would be like to have a true family with bickering and laughing again.

* * *

 _It is not anywhere near Christmas and even eastern went by weeks ago. But I felt like updating this last chapter and not Keep you waiting any longer. So I hope you enjoyed this Little fluffy chapter._


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